Grain by Grain, Liz Carlisle
Grain by Grain, Liz Carlisle
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Grain by Grain
A Quest to Revive Ancient Wheat, Rural Jobs, and Healthy Food

Author: Liz Carlisle, Bob Quinn

Narrator: Chris Sorensen, Coleen Marlo

Unabridged: 8 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/24/2019


Synopsis

When Bob Quinn was a kid, a stranger at a county fair gave him a few kernels of an unusual grain. Little did he know, that grain would change his life. Years later, after finishing a PhD in plant biochemistry and returning to his family's farm in Montana, Bob started experimenting with organic wheat. In the beginning, his concern wasn't health or the environment; he just wanted to make a decent living and some chance encounters led him to organics.

But as demand for organics grew, so too did Bob's experiments. He discovered that through time-tested practices like cover cropping and crop rotation, he could produce successful yields—without pesticides. Regenerative organic farming allowed him to grow fruits and vegetables in cold, dry Montana, providing a source of local produce to families in his hometown. He even started producing his own renewable energy. And he learned that the grain he first tasted at the fair was actually a type of ancient wheat, one that was proven to lower inflammation rather than worsening it, as modern wheat does.

Ultimately, Bob's forays with organics turned into a multimillion dollar heirloom grain company, Kamut International.

About Liz Carlisle

Liz Carlisle holds a BA from Harvard University and a PhD in geography from the University of California at Berkeley. She is a Lecturer in the School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University. Her first book, Lentil Underground, won the Montana Book Award and the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jami on January 17, 2020

Holy cow! I was utterly blown away by this book. I had little expectation for what this book would be (many health related books end up very dry and hard to follow). Not this one! It’s written in a very intriguing way and blends stories, his personal experiences, science, and the history of the mode......more

Goodreads review by Anna on January 28, 2020

The most important and difficult book I have ever read about human, environmental, and economic health. It’s a daunting yet hopeful book about the follies of “conventional agriculture“ and big money agribusiness, the high cost of our “cheap food” culture. It’s full of lessons about organic farming a......more

Goodreads review by Dylan on August 20, 2024

Bob Quinn has shaped more lives that most and has done it the ol fashioned way. A beautiful portrait of how our agricultural system has gone off the rails. I was only into buying organic for the health benefit but now I understand that buying organic means a whole lot more. It means jobs, community,......more

Goodreads review by Darby on June 21, 2019

If you live in Montana, or care about high quality food, or want to more about food systems, organic farming, the value of ancient grains, this book is a good introduction. Bob Quinn is a gem and Liz Carlisle adds her own brilliance to this book worth your time.......more

Goodreads review by Jason on January 08, 2020

I found this book fascinating. It is a great look at agriculture in rural America, and organic farming, and the industrial food complex as a whole. Highly recommend.......more